Re: Amusing, yet scary...

Oooooh, boy. I better go stock up for the bunker while I can. You know, I've never bought a bottle of Old Bardstown black before but it seems that right now the gettin is good!

All joking aside, I did see every bottle of Weller 12 under lock and key in a regular stop of mine starting a few weeks back, which was odd. I can't imagine what prompted that move.

Because it's that good! I always find it interesting shopping from behind bars. Nothing like having to point out what you want to buy and getting it through a little window. Occasionally there are some great finds either because folks don't see them or they don't want to spend the money on the higher priced bottles. Great place to find old dusties.

Re: Amusing, yet scary...

Originally Posted by KyFriedChicken

Because it's that good! I always find it interesting shopping from behind bars. Nothing like having to point out what you want to buy and getting it through a little window. Occasionally there are some great finds either because folks don't see them or they don't want to spend the money on the higher priced bottles. Great place to find old dusties.

I've spent plenty of time talking through bulletproof, but this shop was a somewhat touristy Liquor Barn. Why they would move Weller 12, something I've never had a problem picking up, to a display case escapes me. Derby, I hope?

Re: Amusing, yet scary...

Originally Posted by elbowguru

I've spent plenty of time talking through bulletproof, but this shop was a somewhat touristy Liquor Barn. Why they would move Weller 12, something I've never had a problem picking up, to a display case escapes me. Derby, I hope?

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Good marketing strategy I guess. If it's behind lock and key it must be good. Even I have been guilty of asking what's behind the counter. You might be onto something with the Derby.

Re: Amusing, yet scary...

I picked up a bottle of Old Bardstown 90 proof black label in Louisville a few years ago. I was trying to pick up some bottles I hadn't seen before in Indiana. Anyway, to me it tasted like a rougher, harsher version of Evan Williams. I didn't pour it down the drain, but I thought I wasn't very good, and wouldn't buy it again. It doesn't bother me if other people like it. I can easily find better bourbon for less $.

Re: Amusing, yet scary...

Here is the problem. It is us. We, the consumers, are too impressionable by opinion, expectation and peer pressure. Not you and me in particular, obviously, but certainly our friends and acquaintances. When some douchey friend shows up with a $200 bottle of wine that got "98 points" in Parker, we are all impressed. Even if we are not, we can never discount that information enough. Sure, we might not think it was nearly perfect or worth that kind of money, but we are likely to have a positive experience, and our douchey friend will probably buy a case, his friends will do the same, and soon Chateau Petrus is $8000 a bottle.

This is exactly the same thing as happened to Pappy. It was, for many of us, a really nice treat of a bourbon at $50 dollars or so that we loved to share with our friends as an example of how good a bourbon could be. They hype machine then took over. We then made it worse by buying all we could as we saw availability declining and prices rising, creating a feedback loop that ends with assholes selling Pappy for $800 in Craigslist.

My fear is that we are going to let this happen to other bourbons (Blanton's seems to have been rated scarily high at 97) that we like. There is only one solution to this: we need to educate each other and our friends better about out favored hobby in an accessible way. We need to create an alternative for the confused guy in the liquor store that is being drawn to the "95 points!" shelf talker. We also need to spread the word that, if his last article is indication, Parker knows very little about bourbon and we don't have to listen to him. This is the reason that he doesn't even try to review Burgundy anymore: he made a number of bad calls and embarrassing mistakes early on, no one listened to him about Burgundy, and now he doesn't even review it anymore. We have to encourage the same thing.

Re: Amusing, yet scary...

I still don't see the issue. At least his description gave me an idea how it tastes. Its better than the random double gold medal listing that people see and assume it must be great

Except now the retailer is passing on the Parker mistake to the buyer and by providing the full quote they are passively affirming the mistaken speculation. Blanton's is neither blended nor extra aged but now it has both Parker's imprimatur and the retailer's acceptance of it and both are misleading.

They say some of my stars drink whiskey, but I have found that ones who drink milkshakes don't win many ball games-Casey Stengel